It’s been hot in Eastern Tennessee and the bears – Lucinda the yearling as well as the three cubs – have been spending most of their time in treetops.  Here are the most recent photos of them.

Oldest first – a good photo of Lucinda Bear, the seventeen-month-old yearling.  She is looking good and will no doubt be released back into the wild very soon.

Lucinda strikes a pose in her tree in Wild Enclosure #3.

The three cubs are in Wild Enclosure #4.  All of them are the same age – about five months old.  They are still keeping their distance for the most part, at least the two siblings are staying away from Finnegan.

Finnegan loves to climb trees. This is an important part of his daily routine.

Eliza and Andy are often seen together in a tree, or on a branch as in this photo.

Confirming the curators’ thoughts that they are coming down to forage when no one is around, Andy was on the ground eating yesterday morning, when Finn descended his tree to forage.  There was some huffing between the two male cubs, and Andy retreated up his tree.  Finn, as the longest resident, is self-assured.  Andy is smaller and less confident.  We’d like to see them learn to play together, but their hierarchy and social structure must evolve as the cubs’ work things out themselves.